Defending the Christian faith and promoting its wisdom against the secular and religious challenges of our day.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Discerning the Will of God

Christians who take the Bible seriously know that God has a
plan for our lives. This includes the days of our lives (Psalm 139:16), our
strengths and weaknesses (1 Cor. 12:12-19), and the deeds we are to perform
(Eph. 2:10). He has even promised to guide us:

·The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he
restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
(Psalm 23:1-3)

However, we remain anxious about discovering this plan. We
worry, “Perhaps I’ve made the wrong decision and have removed myself out of the
parameters of God’s plan and now have to settle for plan B?” And by the end of
the week, we are wondering whether we will have to settle for plan X.

Many have written intelligently on this anxiety-ridden
subject. Scripture is understandably identified as our first line of defense.
It is the most reliable source to discover God’s will and plan for our lives.
However, Scripture is easy to misinterpret. Therefore, we have to live it to
know it:

·But solid food [of the Scriptures] is for the
mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from
evil. (Hebrews 5:14)

However, many of us are immature and are also blinded by our
own experiences, fears and desires. Therefore, we seek counsel from others. But
who can tell us, with any certainty, who to marry, where to live or what to buy
or do? Scripture often lacks those coveted details.

Out of frustration, we resort to analyzing dreams,
meditating on our feelings, supernatural events and even Bible-roulette to
discern God’s leading. And then we wonder whether we are spiritual enough to
discern His voice through them. Sometimes, we are left more confused than
before.

Often, our anxiety results because we leave an important
piece out of the discernment puzzle – the sovereignty of our God. Jesus taught
that we are so thoroughly surrounded by God that we need not worry about our
needs being met (Matthew 6:25-31). He explained that God cares about each hair
on our heads:

·Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not
one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And
even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. (Matthew 10:29-30)

According to our Savior, it is not simply that God knows how many hairs are on our heads.
He actually sets the number. No
detail is too small for Him; no concern is too insignificant; no tear passes
from our eyes unnoticed.

Perhaps, then, it is not so important to be able to discern God’s detailed will. Perhaps,
instead, it is sufficient to know that He is guiding us – whether we are aware
of it or not – and is working all things together for our good (Romans 8:28).
In fact, He seldom reveals to us the details of His plans beforehand:

·A man's steps are directed by the Lord. How then
can anyone understand his own way? (Proverbs 20:24)

We can’t! Much is shrouded in mystery. We are very limited
in terms of what we can see. Our senses have been calibrated to perceive only a
limited range of things. We can see the movement of the clock’s second-hand;
perhaps even the minute hand. However, we can’t perceive movement in the
hour-hand, and if the second-hand was moving a thousand times faster, we
wouldn’t even see it at all!

We are not only limited in seeing speed, we are also limited
in seeing size and wave-lengths. We can’t see what the microscope sees or what
the telescope sees. We can only see a very limited range of light and sound. We
can’t hear what the dog or the whale hears. We can’t perceive what the bat
perceives, nor can do we have the infrared sensing of a snake. And when it
comes to the spirit-world, we are even more limited.

We certainly can’t imagine how God can be leading us without
our ever sensing it. However, tells us that He leads even those who care
nothing for Him or His will:

·The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord; he
directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases. (Proverbs 21:1)

Scripture gives us many examples of our God hardening the
hearts of kings and even softening their hearts towards His people. Without the
kings having even the slightest sense of His leading, He has led them against
one nation or another to accomplish His purposes.

If He can do this with people who have no awareness of Him,
how much more can He do this with us, who are seeking Him! Saul hadn’t been
aware that God was infallibly leading him to the Prophet Samuel who God had
instructed to anoint Saul king over Israel. Meanwhile, Saul had merely
been trying to find his donkeys, searching from one town to another. He had no
idea whatsoever that he had an appointment with destiny (1 Samuel 9).

So it is with us. We have no clue how God is guiding us by
the moment, even the second! God brought Saul to Samuel at the very moment that
He had determined.

God is omnipotent. He can do all of this. If a computer
microchip can perform so many operations at one time, how much more the Creator
of this entire universe who sustains every atom and all the laws of physics!

We understand our God too incompletely. However, when we
understand His greatness – the power that is working in our lives – we have a
basis for peace and cognitive rest. We no longer have to worry about whether or
not we correct discern His leading. We don’t have to!

Understanding just a bit of His glory gives us the freedom
to take our eyes off of our limitations, failures and doubts and to place our
attention and adoration upon Him. What a relief!

I still worry. However, now, I have been handed an adequate
reason not to worry, and that has made all the difference.